Recent Posts From: thinkinGardens

Just over 30 years ago I started making the garden at Veddw with not much else than a spade and a desperate need to have a garden. There was no internet, we knew no-one, and had very little money. But we had a rather depressing house and two acres of field. The internet, I think, […]

Do me a big favour – share this with someone who finds gardens totally boring Anne Wareham, editor I recently published a piece here, by Tim Ingram, asking what the purpose of a garden is. Tim basically said a garden is for botanical interest, for learning and for enjoying the pleasures of plants. And […]

We have frequently discussed whether gardens could be art. This piece by Tim Ingram presents a totally different vision of what a garden may be. Are these ideas of gardens contradictory? Mutually exclusive? Or do both miss the point? Anne Wareham, editor What is the purpose of a garden? by […]

Our regular readers will observe that we have a new advert in the sidebar. I had practically given up on adverts as worthless clutter, apart from our trademark and faithful Everedge. But this is good stuff by another reputable company. If you want to learn how to plant like Piet Oudolf and be taught how […]

Someone somewhere may have been wondering why Thinkingardens had disappeared. My apologies – I’ve been on a post garden opening holiday and recovery break. I am especially grateful to Tristan for this review, knowing how fraught his life also is these days. Whoever thought garden makers have a quiet life? Anne Wareham, editor […]

This is effectively the third post about Conceptual gardens. Or at least, about concepts and gardens. Does it take us forward? Anne Wareham, editor Bring Me Stories, Bring Me Songs: Growing a Richer Garden Ethic by Caleb Melchior. I come from a family comfortable with teetering back and forth on the […]

I believe that Jay Sifford’s interesting piece about garden design suffered because I accepted his use of the word ‘Conceptual’ in the title. Some people got little further, due to the feelings they have about Conceptual Gardens as understood in the UK. The term has come to be quite specific, as Tim Richardson discusses here. […]

I’ve never been quite sure what a conceptual garden is. Victoria Summerley made a brave attempt at defining it, as “a garden that seeks to portray an idea, rather than provide a landscape design solution.” And very recently, on the back of Hampton Court ‘Flower’ Show the idea became controversial. Renamed strangely as a ‘statement […]